Fast facts
• Only seven teams have achieved the European treble. Bayern Munich achieved the feat in 2013, while Barcelona have done it twice: in 2009 and 2015. The other clubs to have done so include Celtic, Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United and Inter Milan.
• Four coaches have coached both Barcelona and Bayern Munich: Jack Domby, Udo Lattek, Louis van Gaal and Pep Guardiola.
• Barcelona’s last match for 2015 was Lionel Messi’s 500th for the club, when he managed to score his 425th goal in a 4-0 win over Real Betis.
• Bayern’s final fixture of 2015 was a 1-0 win over Hannover in what was goalkeeper Manuel Neuer’s 300th League appearance as he kept his 143rd clean sheet.
their group with a game to spare, conceding just three goals in six matches, while netting an impressive 19. They’ve made it to the semifinals of the competition for the past four seasons in a row. Holders Barcelona recorded four wins and two draws to guide them to the summit of Group E undefeated, scoring 15 goals in the process while conceding just four. Last season’s success was the fifth European title in the club’s history – and their fourth in the past nine years – as they drew level with Bayern as the third-most successful team in the competition behind Real Madrid (10 titles) and AC Milan (7). German shot-stopper Manuel Neuer has kept a clean sheet in an impressive 48 percent of the League matches he has played for the Bavarians matches before Christmas. And who could forget the Polish international’s record-breaking five goals in nine minutes when he came on as a substitute to single-handedly destroy VfL Wolfsburg in their Bundesliga tie in September? Equally as impressive for the Bavarians is German international Thomas Muller. The 26-year-old has scored 20-plus goals for Bayern in all of the past three seasons, and already sits on 23 goals in just 26 games this campaign. Regarded as one of the most potent strikeforces in the world, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez have destroyed all in their path, scoring a combined 137 goals in 2015 – a mind-boggling 76 percent of Barça’s record-breaking haul of 180 goals the entire calendar year! Messi and Suarez both tallied 48, with Neymar contributing an excellent 41. Ivan Rakitic was the next-best contributor with seven. Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi, despite a lengthy injury lay-off, continues to score at will, while Neymar is proving to be an assist machine, serving his teammates 14 times in the first 20 matches of the season. Yet most impressive of the trio in recent times has been Suarez. After scoring 25 goals in his first season in Catalonia, the Uruguayan had already passed that mark at the midway point of the current season, netting 26 in 25 matches before the start of 2016, as he takes the mantle of the trident’s most successful finisher so far this season. Bayern coach Pep Guardiola has seen and done it all. After replacing Frank Rijkaard as head coach of Barcelona, the ex-Barça player won an unprecedented sextuple with the Catalans in the 2008/09 season – the League, Champions League, Spanish Cup, Uefa Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup. After stepping aside in 2012, Guardiola took a year off before taking charge of Bayern where, now in his third season, he has already delivered two League titles, the German Cup, Uefa Super Cup and 2013 Fifa Club World Cup. The mesmerising passing game instilled by Guardiola at Barcelona was adapted to German conditions and has ensured Bayern’s dominance on the domestic scene. Yet Pep is soon to go in search of a new adventure after announcing he will be stepping down at the end of